Centering and cushioning device for railway car couplers



Sept. 12, 1933- E. E. SCHLESINGER 1,926,112

ER'S

CENTERING AND CUSHIQNING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY CAR COUPL Filed July 18,1931 11:2 ven t or Eoqar E Sch /e$1'1zger .4 itorn e gr Patented Sept.12, 1933 Unrrso srarss CENTERING AND CUSHIONKNG DEVICE FOR RAILWAY CARCOUPLERS Edgar E. Schlesinger, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Union MetalProducts Company, a corporation of Delaware Chicago, Ill.,

Application July 18, 1931. Serial No. 551,588

2 Claims.

The device relates to railway cars'and more particularly to the meansfor supporting the outer end of a railway car coupler adjacent its headwhich permits the coupler to move hori- 5 Zontally and vertically andadjust itself to the curves and unevenness of thetrack, and one of theobjects of the invention is to provide a yielding means in a swingablecarrier for supporting the outer end of 'thecoupler so' that when freeto do so the coupler will return to its normal height and to a positionadjacent the center of the car, which arrangement has several objectsand advantages hereinafter enumerated.

When a coupler is supported by a carrier, which is movable vertically, agreat stress is thrown in the shank of the coupler when the car passesover a hump or valley in the track (technically known as verticalcurves) which when occurring while the couplers are under severe pullingor bufiing stresses is a serious matter and this condition was acontributing cause of the American Railway Association increasing thesize of the standard coupler shank. One of the objects of the invention,therefore, is to reduce the service stresses in the coupler by providinga yielding coupler carrier thereby permitting the outer end of thecoupler to move downwardly so that the center line of the coupledcouplers will be nearer a straight line, thereby reducing the resultant39 forces in the coupler shanks. When the force ceases, for instance,when the cars are uncou pled, the yielding carrier forces the coupler toits normal vertical position, which is prescribed by the AmericanRailway Association and which is ecessary so that the couplers willautomatically couple when the cars are run together.

Another object of the yielding carrier is to prevent the jar in thecoupler caused by the uneven track and the movement of the coupler uponthe carrier from being transmitted to the adjacent car parts, which jarand vibration causes the fastening means, such as bolts, to becomeloose, or perhaps entirely ineiiective. Jars and jolts between thecoupler and the carrier are also caused by the engaging parts of the twocoupled couplers slipping over each other under pressure. Furthermore,such yielding means, by reducing the vertical force of the coupler uponits carrier, reduces the friction and consequent wear between theseparts. The wear upon the coupler shank makes a weak place in the shankcausing it to break at that place when the cars are coupled, especiallywhen coupled in a hump or valley in the track.

Another object is to provide a device which cushions and centers thecoupler without twisting the coupler when the cars go around curves,which twisting action distorts the coupler shank and moving parts of thecoupler causing them to work hard or even bind, making the coupler 69inoperative. This is accomplished by maintaining the top of the carrierparallel to the bottom of the coupler and in contact therewith. In otherwords, the carrier adjusts itself to the coupler. Maintaining thewidth'of the coupler shank in contact with the carrier maintains a largebearing area between these two elements and thereby reduces the'wearupon them;-

One of the objects of the invention is to increase the amount ofpermissible-lateral movement of a coupler byproviding automatic meansfor returning the couplers to the longitudinal center of the .car or atleast close enough thereto so that the automatic couplers will couple.This is what is termed the coupling range.

It is very often necessary to couple cars on curves and frequently whenthe radius of the curve is verysmall, as is common around industrialplants, the couplers of the two cars will be so far out of alignmentthat they will not automatically couple. Another object of theinventionis to automatically bring such couplers within coupling range.

In my device the lateral movement between the coupler and the carrier iseliminated, thus reducing friction and consequent wear on the parts.This is quite an item particularly in sandy countries because couplersare costly and the replacement of a coupler means keeping the car out ofservice.

Coupler positioniiie devices reduces the number of broken knuckles andguard arms on couplers which members are frequently bent or broken whenthe couplers are not within coupling range. Such devices also reduce thenumber of accidents to trainmen as they are not required to go betweenthe cars and position the coupler preparatory to coupling.

Another object of the invention is to provide means to limit themovement of the carrier lengthwise of the car, which means also preventsthe carrier from tipping when the coupler slides over it.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a typical application of my device to a railway car whenthe device is in normal position.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows the device with the yielding means compressed.

Fig. 4 shows the device when the coupler is in its extreme lateralposition.

Figs. 5 and 6 show modified constructions.

In the drawing the striking casting, supporting member or other car part2 is attached to the car and supported thereby by any convenient means,such as the rivets 3-4, which hold it to the draft sills.

The coupler carrier 6 is swingably suspended from the supporting memberby the links 7 and is provided with spaced apart lugs 8 to retain thecoupler 9 in the middle of the carrier. The carrier 6 is provided with aspring bearing surface 11 and spaced apart vertical walls 12. eachhaving a carriage engaging surface 13. The coupler supporting carrierfits between the end walls 15 of the carrier to prevent it from movinglongitudinally of the carrier and has depending flanges 18 positionedbetween the side walls 12 to restrict sidewise movement of the carriage.

The two coil springs 20 constitute yielding means and are positionedbetween the carriage 10 and the carrier (Sand between the side flanges18 of the carriage. Upon a predetermined downward movement of thecarriage the outer extending lips 22 of the carriage engage the carriersurface 13 and limit the downward movement of the carriage. It isdesirable to stop the downward movement of the carriage before thespring is completely compressed so as to increase the life of the springbecause yielding means are usually broken by the impact blow whenallowed to go solid.

Fig. 5 shows a modified construction wherein a leaf spring 30 ispositioned between the carriage 31 and the carrier 32 and is shown asbeing riveted to the carriage. However, the leaf spring might bereversed and its central portion secured to the carrier instead of thecarriage.

' Fig. 6 shows another modified construction where two semi-ellipticsprings 4041 are used between the carriage 42 and the carrier 43 havingfrictional engagement with each other at their extremities.

' When the suspending links are vertical (or parallel to each other) aparallelogram movement is obtained and the coupler engaging surfaceremains horizontal so that the coupler is not twisted. However, if thelinks are positioned obliquely to each other, either as shown in Figs. 5or 6, a greater centering action is obtained and if such oblique linksare used the yielding means prevents any twisting action upon thecoupler by allowing the carriage 10 to adjust itself to the coupler 9independently of the carrier 6.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of theclaims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A cushioning and centering device for a railway car couplercomprising a supporting member secured to the car, a carrier, linksswingingly suspending the carrier from the supporting member, said linksbeing non-parallel to each other, a coupler supporting carriage, and ayielding means between said carrier and said carriage whereby when thecoupler moves laterally one side of the yielding means is compressed sothat the coupler shank remains in a horizontal plane.

2. A cushioning and centering device for a railway car couplercomprising a supporting member secured to the car, a carrier element,links swingingly suspend ng the carrier element from the supportingmember, a coupler supporting carriage element, and a yielding meansbetween said carrier and said carriage, said yielding means comprising asemi-elliptical leaf spring having its medial part secured to one ofsaid elements with its free end portions engaging the other of saidelements so as to have a frictional sliding engagement therewith andretaining means to retain the ends of the spring in engagement with theadjacent element.

